Car arrived. I have many questions

[chatas17]

Well, my 75 911S arrived today and for the most part it was what I expected. I have a few questions and I really could use some advice.

1. The oil dipstick is very short and the oil reading shows it way below min. Ther person before me rarley drove the car. Should I check the oil when the car is running? What is the oil capacity (14 qts?)?

3. What oil do you use? The guy said the engine has been rebuilt. It looks clean but who really knows.

2. The oil filter is located right next to the oil filler tube. I thought this happened in 1972 only?

3. The thermal reactor bolts are very oily. What does this mean besides it's an oil leak?

4. What is your oil pressure at idle?

I'm sure I have more.... It's a pretty soild car with average paint at best. I paid $8000 for it.....Think I paid too much?

Thanks for your help!

[mtech325ic]

Hello. Use the search button. It is an excellent tool for the answers to questions you asked. It will also answer most of your future questions. Also, buy a Bentley repair manual. Good luck and congratulations. Post some pics when you can. Kevin.

[rdrr]

Oil should be checked with the engine running and at operating temperature. The car should be on level ground.
What type of oil - Hmm, lots of debate on that one. Do a search.
Location of filter - possibly you are confusing the filter with the oil filler flap on the exterior of the car which was only in 72. As far as I know the filter was always in the same place.

[HarryD]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. It is customary to post a picture or two of your ride for all of us to see.

Ask questions but try the button as well. Most questions are already answered.

1. The oil dipstick is very short and the oil reading shows it way below min. Ther person before me rarley drove the car. Should I check the oil when the car is running? What is the oil capacity (14 qts?)?

Check when the car is at full temperature (170+ and on level ground). If it is coldr or on a slope, you will get a low reading and then overfill the car. Most of us like to keep the oil at the mid point of the dip stick.

3. What oil do you use?

Use the search button, hundreds of guys, thousands of opinions. You want an oil with lots of ZDDP.

The guy said the engine has been rebuilt. It looks clean but who really knows.

Did you get receipts? What did they fix/replace? Who did the work?

2. The oil filter is located right next to the oil filler tube. I thought this happened in 1972 only?

Nope, '72 has the external oil fill, all others are like yours.

3. The thermal reactor bolts are very oily. What does this mean besides it's an oil leak?

Oil leak, yep.... could be minor, could be bad. You should make the thermal reactors go away..... Do a search.

4. What is your oil pressure at idle?

Mine reads very low, you should see about 10-15 psi per 1000 rpm

Also, buy a Bentley repair manual

good advice but Bentley does not publish a manual for pre-SC (i.e. 3 liter) cars. Haynes and this forums is your best bet.

[chatas17]

Thanks for the replies. I am doing my searches. Good point! I think I'm changing my oil and stating out with the correct amount. The dipstick seems shorter than the one pictured in the manual. That is a concern.

I'm pretty sure they are thermal reactors. If they are replaced, I'm assuming you replace them with the SSI's that I keep reading about.

Hey, I'm coming off of building 351 Windsors for mustangs. These engines look quite a bit different! Thanks for the advice. I will post some pictures.

[ael911]

Welcome to the forum, I hope you have a lot of fun with your new
car. Here's mine, now show me yours...

[RANDY P]

one thing on the dipstick - they do appear short compared to other vehicles.

It's OK to actually run the car a quart low. The dipstick low mark is close to 2 quarts down, not 1 quart like a typical car. Overfilling is really a bad thing to do - creates a big mess in the airbox. Only put ONE quart in and only when at the lower mark. No sooner, no later than that. That should put you squarely in the middle of the high and low marks.

Only check the oil car idling, and fully warmed up - in colder climates that may take awhile - mine doesn't even hit 180 degrees if it's under 75 deg. outside - that is if you don't have any funky finned coolers anywhere on the car. Either way, if you follow the one quart only rule it won't be an issue.

One last thing - an older engine will eat some oil. Keep an eye on the oil level - check the dipstick against the oil level gauge un the dash, check your oil every time you fill up, at least for the first few thousand miles. Every time you hit the lower mark on the dipstick, put a quart in and reset your trip odometer. A few cycles of this routine and you'll have a pretty good idea how much oil you're eating. Book says that as little as 600 mi / QT used is ok. Excessive, but OK. Never run low on oil. You'll spend as much to rebuild this thing as you paid for it.

PS - 1 bar (14.7 PSI) at 1K rpm is typical assuming you're not running too hot.

rjp

[Dutchie]

Welcome to the forum. My tip is to get our hosts "101 projects for your Porsche911". Helped me out alot when i just got the car



Cheers,

[ossiblue]

Chatas 17,
All your questions have been answered so I'll offer some additional suggestions.
1) Remove the thermal reactors if your local pollution laws allow it. The extreme heat these generate tend to eat up the 2.7 engine.
2) If you have the build list for the rebuild, see if time certs and/or studs were replaced or have a mechanic go over your engine to verify.
3) Check to see if you have the 11 blade fan. If not, get one.
4) See if rebuild included tensioner upgrade or replacement.
5) Look inside your airbox to see if there is a pop-off valve installed (looks like a toilet tank flapper). If not, get one.

Enjoy your car, drive it often, use this board when you need help, and welcome aboard.

[Porsche_monkey]

We need a newbie link. No disrespect to the poster, but there should be a place to go to get these intial questions answered, maybe a 'New Owner FAQ' section. Every new owner has (or should have) these questions. It would be to everyones benefit.

[SCWDP911]

Originally posted by PBH
We need a newbie link. No disrespect to the poster, but there should be a place to go to get these intial questions answered, maybe a 'New Owner FAQ' section. Every new owner has (or should have) these questions. It would be to everyones benefit.

As someone fairly new, I second the motion. Needs to be a sticky at the top of the forum. Title it "101 Things the New 911 Owner Needs to Know First"

[KNS]

All good points above. If you don't have a numbered oil temp guage, then normal operating temperature is after youve driven at least 15 minutes or so, much longer on a cold day. Get the engine nice and hot.

Your oil tank guage (capacity) if it works, will really only be accurate while sitting at idle. Always rely on what the dipstick says - at idle- and not the guage.

If you don't live in California ditch the reactors. Check your local emissions requirements.

Most people seem to like a 20W50 in conventional oil. Kendall and Castrol are popular. Mobil 1 15W50 is a popular synthetic.

[Porsche_monkey]

No more stickys!

We just need a tech article to cover the basics. There is a ton of stuff there from a simple brake rebuild to a complete rebuild of a tranny. But the basic stuff, how to check the oil level, what oils are recommended, why you need to get used to a leaking engine etc should be added as a READ ME FIRST article.

[SCWDP911]

Originally posted by PBH
No more stickys!

We just need a tech article to cover the basics. There is a ton of stuff there from a simple brake rebuild to a complete rebuild of a tranny. But the basic stuff, how to check the oil level, what oils are recommended, why you need to get used to a leaking engine etc should be added as a READ ME FIRST article.

I agree with you, except, how will they know to read it first, unless it is somewhere easily seen. Maybe there is another way Wayne or another moderator can do it without it being a sticky?

[Porsche_monkey]

When a new guy posts give him a link to the FAQ.

[SCWDP911]

That's an option...

[Porsche_monkey]

So who's going to write it up....

Actually all you really need to do is summarize a few things and insert links to the many lengthy threads on these topics for people that wnat more details.

[kwm]

Your oil can look clean regardless of the mileage. My SC has 150k and the oil is still clean. My guess is that it is b/c of the amount of oil over say a 4 qt domestic car.

[FinallyGotOne]

my .02 cents. In My landcruiser i do all Mobile One oil changes. in my 911 I use regular 15/40 from Auto Parts store. I was told to NOT use any synthetics.

see link for Porsche Club of America info re: Oil Type

http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_question.asp?id={A16681E4-1EE2-431D-B803-9EA5A1F561BF}

also from the Wikipedia site some info pertaining to your 911S:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_911

The well known problem of pulled cylinder head studs with the K-Jetronic 2.7 engine only occurred in hot climates. This emerged in 1975 in California where thermal reactors, aimed at reducing emissions, were fitted below the cylinder heads thus causing massive heat build up around the magnesium crankcase and then made worse by the lean running K-Jetronic CIS. The fitting of a 5 blade engine fan instead of the usual 11 blade further compounded the situation.

[Porsche_monkey]

To answer some of your questions:

You should ahve about 1 bar at idle, and 1 bar per 1,000 rpm and you drive.

Provided your engine is okay you paid a fair price.

You should do some research on thermal reactors. the concensus will be that they should be removed ASAP. They make your engine run too hot.

You should update your user info to show your location, that might affect what oil I would suggest. But typically for your car I would suggest Castrol GTX 20W-50.

You might consider doing a leakdown and compression test to determine how good your engine is. Or, just drive it, if it pulls hard and doesn't smoke, then just drive it.'